Kind of a neat trick...

[Glenn the fifth]

Hello all. This is probably something many of you have seen and/or done, but I have been camping for several years and been to many campgrounds and had not seen (or maybe just did not notice) it before.

While we were camping over this past 3 day weekend, we did one of our many walkarounds to check out other campers and the campground itself. We noticed 3 campers (2 trailers and 1 fifthwheel) sitting in their spots unhooked from the tow vehicles. It was close to sunset and the trailers themselves all had their running lights on. It looked really neat and made them stand out. I asked one of the campers how they accomplished that. He said they were all camping together and did that often to "mark" their group. He showed me that you simply put a 10 or 15 amp fuse across the "11 o'clock and 12 o'clock positions on your trailer plug and it lights you up. I don't beleive this is something that you would want to do if you were boondocking, but if you are plugged in it is a pretty neat way to lite up. I tried it when I got back to my camper and the fuse fits right in those slots niceley. It is also a nice/easy way to check all of your lights before you head out on a trip. Just thought I would pass along for those that had not seen it before. -Glenn

[Rainer]

When I was in Bar Harbor over the 4th of July in 2010, I noticed the trailer next to me with the running lights on. The showed me the trick about putting a 20amp fuse across the top two slots in the plug. By top of the plug, I mean where the finger pull is located.

These folks were Canadian and apparently this a common trick in Canada. I've been doing this for over three years now, and have passed the trick on to a number of folks.

[lfw]

I do the same thing... but at Christmas time I add a flasher that is used to make your turn signals flash on your car to mine.. makes all the light flash on the Monty... kinda neat that time of year..

lfw

[Art-n-Marge]

They actually sell plugs to insert that essentially does this. They might even do a solid light, blinking lights or some kind of pattern. Basically you are connecting the hot 12V wire to the running lights, then some plugs do extra stuff.

Where I live there is an RV dealer who backs up his rigs (right now it's about 25 to 30 Airstream rigs) to the dealership fence facing the Interstate and does something to light up all the running lights on every one of them. It's kinda cool when we go by there at night. We've been by there as late as 1 a.m. and they are still ON. They are close to each other, so the lights are concentrated and almost annoyingly bright. During the day, nothing. I'm not sure, but he probably just uses the rig batteries, and the special plug. Then probably charges up the batteries during the day. Sounds like a lot of work, but he's been doing this with whatever rig he's trying to feature, for years.

[BB_TX]

Have seen lots of discussions about it but have yet to actually see one in an RV park doing it.

[DQDick]

Thanks guys for the ideas, one more thing to experiment with.

[Carl n Susan]

Several folks at the Circling of the Montanas event use the 20 amp fuse trick to light up their rigs at night. It helps them find their way back from the campfire.

The flasher trick which blinks the lights is something you might want to consider having on hand in case you break down on the side of the road. The RV becomes one large blinking hazard light (even if the truck is detached).

[Jewels]

Not sure i understand but you are saying in the actual plug that plugs into the pedestal at a campground? Sorry for my dense ness!

[Glenn the fifth]

Jewels, no problem. It is actually the plug that plugs into the tow vehicle.

[mhs4771]

I've read where the Flasher deal comes in handy if someone in the Rig is hurt, helps First Responders find you easier, especially if you're in a large park with Lots of White Fifth-wheels

[hybridhauler]

Great tip, I happen to have fuses in my tool bag and a spare flasher in the shop. I will give it a try on my next outing

[woodtic]

Great tip. Tried it tonight with a15 amp fuse (what I found first) and it worked perfect. Thanks for the tip.

[Samiterry]

I did this a few years ago also. A word of caution though. Apparently, in some selected campgrounds, flashing lights on your RV indicates some kind of emergency. We were at a campground, set up, it was dark, started the campfire, lights flashing on RV, up walks the campground host asking what the emergency was. We all looked at him with a bewildered face and wondered why he thought we had an emergency. That's when I found out about how to signal the campground that there is a problem.

[seahunter]

Thanks for the tip. I have never seen one with the lights on, great idea!

[fauch]

...now it just got a little harder for our visitors to find the camper, however slight, in the big scheme of things.....

shhhhhhh :-)

[Ozz]

Believe it or not, I have a slide-show for that!
I know, shocker...

https://picasaweb.google.com/Jimsue13/EmergencyFlasherOzzmod?authuser=0&feat=directlink